Tuesday, April 24, 2012

What Ever Happened to Colored Toilet Paper???

These are the weighty topics that come to mind on nights that I struggle valiantly with insomnia.

And YOU are the beneficiaries! (Don't you feel lucky?)

But seriously... it occurred to me last night that what used to be a staple in households across the country, seems to have disappeared from supermarkets displays with nary a whimper.

I remember way back when.... we had peach toilet paper in our peach bathroom and mint toilet paper in our green bathroom (OK, the fact that green bathrooms have fallen by the wayside.... THAT I get!).

I tried to remember when this profusion of color - pink, yellow, blue, green, peach - disappeared off store shelves, but try as I might, I could not. There must not have been a great hue and cry (pun intended). But why? I LIKED colored toilet paper {she whines some 20 years too late}. Does anyone else remember? Does anyone else care??!?!

I used to love doing art projects with the colored toilet paper, must have been around until at least 20 years ago. But anecdotally, many doctors said not to use them, I would imagine because too many people had skin irritations to the bleaches and dyes. On the other hand the rabbe'im were always saying to look for the colored stock to avoid she'elim - so, since I was married less than 20 years ago, the stuff must have been around at least a little bit more recently.

I had to Google what a "loo" was. There are a couple of theories why it is called that, one is that it was commonly located in room 100 and the two look alike (100, loo), another reason it comes from the French saying of "Le Lieu" which means "the place", some want to say it comes from " lady Louisa" the wife of the unpopular first earl of Lichfield, in 1867 the couple were staying by a friend and two wise guys took the namecard of their bedroom door and put in the bathroom door and people started calling it going to the Lady Louisa and the shorten name stuck.

Less than 30 years ago, a totally color-coordinated bathroom was in vogue--down to the toilet paper. Colored paper, frequently accompanied by a fragrance, was expected in the well-dressed home. However, in 1987 the FDA revolutionized the cosmetics industry by placing a ban on certain dyes and scents since it saw an alarming increase of cancer in laboratory animals that were exposed to dyes and fragrances. There were, and are, other concerns that led to the eradication of colored toilet paper. As a result, tinted toilet paper has all but disappeared from the market.

The FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services placed a ban on dyes used in the coloration of toilet paper in 1987 due to an increased risk of cancer in laboratory animals. It was presumed that the close proximity of these dyes to a woman's reproductive organs would lead to an increased spike in cervical cancer.

The use of scented and dyed toilet paper can lead to inflammation and itchiness of the rectal area. Additionally, it is a good health habit to look at your excrement every so often to examine it for blood in the stool. Colored paper gets in the way of this visual health check.

Colored toilet paper is extremely irritating to the vaginal area,and is one of the causes cited for urinary tract infections.

According to MedlinePlus, one of the first questions a doctor asks a woman with a yeast infection is if she is using colored or perfumed toilet paper. A direct cause and effect is established between the two.

The dye used in colored toilet paper is bad for household septic systems since it doesn't break down at the same rate as the paper. It puts an increased strain on the system, causing backups of the septic system, which can cause sewage waste to reenter the home, causing an obvious health hazard.

Adding dyes and fragrances causes an increased strain on the environment, and consumers don't need or want these byproducts in their toilet paper. Today's savvy consumer demands all natural products that are free of dyes and perfume. Using white or even unbleached toilet paper is a small way to help preserve the environment, which leads to a healthier planet.

I'm 60 (male), and I remember the colored toilet paper. It would be a treat today, just that extra color to bring back great memories, like TV dinners in the aluminum trays. I found your post cause I was curious too when and especially why it disappeared. If it's an environmental or health thing, that's ridiculous. Black's my favorite color, so I'll have to check into that...

If you're old enough to remember colored toilet paper, then you should be old enough to remember reports about 20 years ago that there was a possible link to cancer. In fact, just Googled "colored toilet paper" and it automatically offered "cancer" as an additional word in my search! I think most people figured, "better safe than sorry", and sales--for lack of a better word--plunged.

I remember colored toilet paper. charmin made some beautiful peach, pink and jade 6 packs back in the late 80's. I hate white toilet paper.sometimes i just want to drnk a bottled sugar sweetened coke, eat potatoes out of a Banquet aluminum tv dinner tray (they tasted soooo much better in aluminum) and wipe my bottom with some colored tp. These items are not what is destroying the planet.

I want my toilet paper to come in colors! Stop dictating to everyone what to eat drink and wipe with! If a person like white use it, but don't tell everyone else. Now I pay a fortune for color paper on ebay when I can find it!!!

This is what I vaguely recall. There was something referred to as toxic shock syndrome being talked about on the news almost every day. Somehow it got linked to toilet paper and specifically color paper. So, in a mock gesture of pretending they cared about their customers and weren't just covering their A**** (No pun intended.)Many of the companies pulled the colored stuff from the shelves. Now this could be just me mixing two different events together.So take it with a grain of salt.

I remember colored toilet paper from my childhood (90s) and vaguely remember asking my mom why we couldn't buy the blue one anymore, she mentioned "its not good for girls to use" and that was that. Today I learned it was linked to irritations, possible TSS, and cancers!

It's just an American thing that it disappeared. You can still buy colored toilet paper in Europe and Japan. You can even buy black toilet paper, with no cancer or UTI fears. I think the toilet paper companies were behind that scare, so no one would complain when they removed the color and saved millions of dollars.

You can get magenta, bright green, orange, black, etc., here:http://www.renovashop.com/

I'm with Susan, I always thought the health scare was a great exaggeration, and there was little evidence to ever back it up. The theory that the TP companies were behind it is very interesting and would make sense.

Geee. One thing actually causes ALL this? Yes I am old enough to remember colored toilet paper, which means I am old enough to NOT be sold the EPA and health bill of goods. Plain and simple, if the EPA does not make up things and then appear to "solve them", they would no longer exist, and in fact they should have been abolished decades ago. DO YOUR OWN thinking!

If they took the dyes out of toilet paper & facial tissues (kleenex) since the 80s or early 90s, why haven't they been removed from paper towels?

You can still buy colored or printed paper towels in many brands, some even now with dish detergent dry embedded into the fibers? (What if someone accidentally uses that in a food prep situation where they don't want the towel to be soapy?)

Now come on, guys, don't you know there is dye in WHITE toilet paper too? Don't tell me you actually think it is 'naturally' white? Of course there is nothing wrong with colored toilet paper - in fact, pink tp is the norm in France (which I found on Amazon in a wide array of colors from Linteo in Europe).

Renova Colored Toilet paper is both Safe and Beautiful.Anyone in the USA that would like to buy Renova Colored toilet Paper should call 702 998-9897 they sale it and donate a portial of the proceeds to different non-profit organizations.

The real problem is twofold. 1. The EPA has nothing better to do than come up with new rules and regulations in order to justify their jobs, and 2. People are STUPID enough to believe everything the EPA comes out with.

If it was banned by the FDA why is Walmart Canada selling kids toilet paper with happy faces and dinosaurs on it...is it safe for them to use...???? Also we still can buy pink toilet paper at times to support Women's cancer so what is the true story...Is it safe to use????????????????